10 June 2022
Sean “The Muscle Shark,” also known as Sean Keith Sherk, is a formerly active American MMA fighter and two-time winner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship Lightweight Title. He was born on August 5, 1973.
Sherk fought in the UFC, competing in different weight categories for the title, including the Welterweight Championship. Several years after Jens Pulver vacated the UFC Lightweight Championship title, he won it in 2006, making him the second person to hold the title in the company’s history.
Let`s see what he is doing these days.
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Sean Sherk’s life after MMA career
Sherk has a wife called Heather, and together, they have two sons and one daughter. They live in Minnesota, where he coaches a martial arts team at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. He also works in the Minnesota real estate market, flipping houses.
Starting a real estate company from scratch
Sherk had to start from zero when he retired from the UFC. Despite his stellar record in the ring, he had no pension, no land, or paper to invest when he left the UFC. He says he had to work hard, dashing back and forth, running all over, and getting up early just like his old training days to establish his real estate company, Rock Solid Homes. He’s been flipping houses for about 9 years now. He started with a company called Training Mask, which he later sold to his business partner before moving to real estate. Today, the former business is doing exceptionally well.
A good piece of advice for his fellow fighters
Part of the reason for having to start afresh is that he had no exit strategy, and his advice to every fighter out there now is always to have a plan. The other reason is that the UFC doesn’t pay its fighters much. You can catch his views on the matter on his Facebook account, where he posts about his life and everything at UFC. Sherk is dissatisfied with the present condition of fighter wages in the UFC.
He observes that little has improved in the last ten years and that it’s embarrassing that former company champions and top fighters are forced to go battle YouTube stars with little to zero ring experience for additional cash. He claims that UFC performers are the lowest-paid athletes on the planet.
When pushed by a follower about what UFC boxers should do differently, Sherk replied that the fighters should form a union if they want real change.
Passing his skills to his sons
Sherk always works on the buildings he flips himself, but he does have a dedicated team of two old schoolmates that assist him. He also installs roofs, which he claims is part of his diversification strategy because the housing market is never predictable. He says he wants to work in real estate until he’s 60 years old, then pass on his skills to his sons so they can follow in his footsteps.
Training the next big fighters
He also actively trains a group of boxers at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy alongside coaches Nat McIntyre, Ryan Murray, Greg Nelson, Tom Schmitz, Ishmael Bentley, and Andy Grain.
You can catch up with Sean Sherk on his FB page or watch this YouTube interview where he talks about his life, from his competing days to his championships, rumors of comebacks, and legacy.
Some of his old achievements:
Sherk competed in PRIDE Fighting Events and Pancrase, both based in Japan and was victorious in both tournaments. Sherk was undefeated for most of his career, losing only four of them to fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship champions. Sherk declared his departure from his mixed martial arts career in September 2013, three years after his final fight.
Sherk was the first Lightweight Champion in the UFC after the company resurrected the title in 2006 and he helped bring fame to the division. He lost it but won it again at UFC 64 after defeating Kenny Florian in what was called Fight of the Night. He successfully defended it at UFC 73, too. He was laid off from the company for a while in 2007 after he tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite. He spent a lot of money and a huge effort to clear his name and even managed to convince fans that he was innocent.
His UFC’s lightweight battles are some of the most crucial the division has seen, and that’s why he’s regarded as one of the best lightweight fighters of his generation. After beating Evan Dunham in an upset in 2010, “The Muscle Shark” has since retired. He is now 47. With such MMA career accomplishments, many of his fans are interested to know what he’s doing now that he’s retired.
